People living in an industrial area of east London are inhaling “dirty dust” that covers their homes and streets, a Newham councillor has warned.
Green councillor Rob Callender, who represents Royal Victoria ward, says the streets around Silvertown and West Silvertown DLR Station are “caked in dust and debris”. He says that “sediment sits inches thick around the kerbs of traffic islands”.
Council meeting call for action
At a full council meeting on Monday, October 5, Cllr Callender asked leaders at the Labour-run council for more street cleaning, as well as action to stop the cause of the dust.
Cllr Callender said: “The road markings are obscured, street furniture covered, the recently installed Royal Docks Corridor cycle paths and pavements [are] full of debris... and worse, local residents’ cars and homes are also covered in dirty dust, which they are breathing in.”
He said council cleaners were “doing their best to try and clear away the dust but do not have the resources available to make a meaningful difference”. Cllr Callender also asked if the council could put “pressure” on the Environment Agency to take enforcement action against businesses that may be the source of the dust.
Council response and site visits
Cllr Susan Masters, executive member for adults, health and environment, said Newham Council had received “several inquiries” from residents about the dust, adding it was “one of the more worrying questions” she received.
She said the neighbourhood hosted a number of industrial sites such as RMS Skip Hire, but that several homes and “luxury apartments” had also been built there in recent years. However, she stated that council staff had made “several site visits” to RMS Skip Hire and confirmed “dust suppression measures are in operation”.
Cllr Masters said the council currently sends a large mechanical sweeper down Silvertown Way every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She added its street cleaning team would clean traffic islands there on Sundays as overtime, but that it couldn’t increase cycle lane and pavement sweeping.
Potential service trade-offs
Cllr Masters said that increasing street cleaning in Silvertown could mean reducing the service elsewhere in the borough.
However, she told Cllr Callender: “I’m very happy to come and visit and see this for myself, with officers, to see if we can come to some sort of solution.”
